Without being able to solve the problem of returning through the Portuguese consulate in Luanda or TAP, many of the Portuguese who were stranded in Angola after the country closed borders on March 20, resorted to their own means to find a flight, contacting agencies directly travel in Portugal.
Carla Tenrinho, who is accompanied by her children, because she feels "more secure" in Portugal, complained about the difficulties and the high price of tickets.
"We have been trying to travel for two weeks, the consulate does not work," he criticized, explaining that he signed up with his family on a list, but only managed to fly through a travel agency at a cost "three times higher than normal". The Portuguese added: "Every day we tried TAP and got no answer".
"I don't really know if the consulate exists here," said João Carmo ironically, another of the 285 passengers who boarded one of the two flights made available by TAP.
The Portuguese, who has worked in Angola for eight years, reported the odyssey he went through to get the desired ticket. "It is not worth sending 'mails', there is no answer. We send 'mails' to sign up, we go to TAP because the consulate said so and, simply, the lists that are there do not have our names, it is very strange ", he told Lusa.
João Carmo managed to arrange a flight through a travel agency, after establishing some contacts, and was surprised to see the confirmation at 5:20 am on the same day.
"I had already tried on the consulate lists, on the TAP lists, I went to TAP, with a flight I had for March 24 - and there was a flight on March 24. First, I was told to go to the airport check in, then they said it wasn't worth it because it was an extra flight. It was a total mess, "he said.
There are those who are irritated by the lists and question the way they were made, like Daniel Santos, who was on a business trip and also had a return flight to Lisbon, but was canceled due to the closing of borders.
"I even thought that there was some control on the part of the consulate, but I realized that there were several lists, which maybe even had some criteria, but nobody knew. I started to realize that there were several lists because there were different levels of contacts with different people and then I felt neglected. There were three flights that left and I didn't even know they had left. How is this possible? ", he asked.
He was disgusted with the way the consulate treated the Portuguese, stressing that all the information requested was given without having had any kind of feedback: "This is not even correct".
Daniel Santos felt "that there were games, interests" and reinforced that he did not get an answer to his emails and, "over the phone, it was impossible." He ended up getting a flight through one of the several travel agencies he contacted.
"I am leaving because of my son, it is not safe for him", justified Catarina Sousa, businesswoman in Angola, who is going to join her parents in Portugal.
Confirming that "it was difficult to get the ticket" because there is a "huge waiting list", he admitted that he is also concerned about the situation in Portugal: "It will be prolonged, it will take months and we are all suffering from this situation".
As for the company, it is currently stalled due to the state of emergency declared by the Government to combat the spread of the epidemic. "We'll see how long," he said.
Pedro Miguel also described a real fight for a place on this plane: "We were forced to put ourselves at risk, we only managed this morning, we had to go knock on TAP's door, even though it was closed".
According to him, on Tuesday, about a hundred Portuguese people gathered at the carrier's office in Luanda.
"We feel abandoned, we have been without consular information on flights for more than 10 days and the only way to find out was through the media," he censored.
